Orofacial pain represents a huge morbidity for millions of Americans. Tooth pain alone represents significant morbidity with millions having toothaches on a daily basis. In addition, the TMJ syndrome and orofacial myofacial pain may affect up to 10-15% of the population.
Numerous etiologies of facial pains have been described. These include typical pains of dental origin, myopathic pains, neurogenic pains, vascular associated pains, atypical facial pains and sinus related pains. These pains are typically considered to be deep pains requiring interventions which are systemic or direct topical treatments or invasively or surgically directed treatments at the site of pain. The treatments have included ear drops (placed into the ear for ear pain), topical solutions (applied directly to the gums and teeth for tooth pain), local injections (into gums for tooth pain or into trigger points), a variety of systemic analgesics (aspirin, acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and narcotics), a variety of other systemic agents (steroids, diphenylhydantoin, carbamazepine, calcium channel blockers, beta-blockers, and tricyclic antidepressants) and surgical procedures (tooth extractions, sinus operations, etc.).
Although some reasonable treatments are available, no simple, cutaneously applied, rapidly acting and effective treatment has been described to date for the deeper orofacial pains.